Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin fired back at Donald Trump Friday afternoon following a report that he routinely referred to the deaf actress as "retarded" during her 2011 appearance on "The Celebrity Apprentice."

According to The Daily Beast, Trump mimicked and demeaned the star and suggested she was mentally handicapped.

"[Trump] would make fun of her voice. It actually sounded a lot like what he did [to] the New York Times guy,” a source who worked on "The Celebrity Apprentice" told The Daily Beast, referring to when Trump appeared to mock disabled reporter Serge Kovaleski last year.

In the past several days at least six woman have stepped forward accusing Trump of improper and forcible touching as well as aggressive sexual contact.

Matlin, who won the best actress Oscar for "Children of a Lesser God" (1986) and is also known for a recurring role on "The West Wing," responded on her Twitter account Thursday.

"The term (retarded) is abhorrent and should never be used," Matlin wrote. "The fact that we are talking about this during a very important moment in American history has me deeply upset."

Another source told The Daily Beast Trump's behavior toward Matlin carried on throughout much of the season. "In the boardroom, he would talk to her like she was 'special,'" the source said. "He took her deafness as a some kind of [mental] handicap."

Marlin said she would not responded to Trump in kind with further insults, but would make herself heard by voting.

The Trump campaign did not respond to The Daily Beast's request for comment.

NBC has also reached out for comment.

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President Barack Obama won a second term on Tuesday, emerging from a long, punishing campaign with a new mandate to lead a divided and anxious nation.

"Tonight in this election, you, the American people, reminded us that while our road has been hard, while our journey has been long, we have picked ourselves up," Obama said in a victory speech in his hometown of Chicago. "We have fought our way back and we know in our hearts for the United States of America, the best is yet to come."

"Our economy is recovering. A decade of war is ending. A long campaign is now over," he said. "And whether I earned your vote or not, I have listened to you. I have learned from you. And you've made me a better president. And with your stories and your struggles, I return to the White House more determined and more inspired than ever about the work there is to do and about the future and life ahead."

But the cold reality is that when he arrives back in Washington, the president will face the same obstacles he did before the election. With Republicans maintaining control of the House of Representatives, the era of political gridlock will likely continue.

That challenge was articulated by one of his most outspoken opponents, Sen. Mitch McConnell, leader of Senate Republicans.

"Now it's time for the president to propose solutions that actually have a chance of passing the Republican-controlled House of Representatives and a closely-divided Senate, step up to the plate on the challenges of the moment, and deliver in a way that he did not in his first four years in office," McConnell said. “To the extent he wants to move to the political center, which is where the work gets done in a divided government, we’ll be there to meet him half way."

Obama's triumph unfolded incrementally Tuesday night, as he racked up a string of victories in crucial battlegrounds. One after another, states that had been deemed competitive swing states before Election Day fell into the president's hands.

Pennsylvania. Wisconsin. New Hampshire. Iowa. Virginia. With each Obama win, the path to victory for his opponent, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, got narrower.

Finally, just after 11 p.m. ET, NBC News projected Obama to win Ohio, his so-called "firewall" and the one state that has sided with the winning presidential candidate in every election since 1960. Obama's win there, thanks in large part to the state's support of his bailout of the auto industry, handed him the Electoral College swing votes he needed.

Romney conceded the race in a phone call to the president just before 1 a.m. ET. He then took the stage at the Westin Boston Waterfront Hotel, telling supporters that he wished the president well.

"This is a time of great challenges for America, and I pray that the president will be successful in guiding our nation," Romney said.

Obama's battleground victories were so authoritative that Florida, which was considered the biggest prize, wasn't even a factor.

Florida was the only state that remained too close to call as of 6:00 a.m. ET. Its results won't be known until after the start of business Wednesday.

So many people turned out to vote Tuesday that Ohio, Florida and Virginia kept polls open long after official closing times to accommodate the people waiting in long lines that snaked from the doors of polling places.

Exit polls indicated that Obama was favored among women, young adults, singles and Latinos — the last group by wider margins than in 2008.

"Today is the clearest proof yet that, against the odds, ordinary Americans can overcome powerful interests," Obama wrote in an email to supporters.

The first person Obama called after getting the concession call from Romney was former President Bill Clinton, a campaign official told NBC News.

The former president was one of Obama’s top surrogates, and onlookers credited his speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte with Obama's "Clinton bump" in the polls.

Obama, Romney and their proxies spent nearly $2 billion, a record amount for a presidential campaign.

In his concession speech, Romney said he had no regrets and hoped that the country would move past its partisan differences to solve the nation's problems.

"I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country in a different direction," he said. "But the nation chose another leader."

Less than an hour later, at about 1:45 a.m. ET, Obama appeared before a roaring crowd at the McCormick Place convention center in Chicago. His wife, Michelle, and their two daughters accompanied him on stage while Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered" blasted. Then they left him to deliver his victory speech.

Obama congratulated Romney "on a hard-fought campaign."

“We may have battled fiercely, but it's only because we love this country, we care so strongly about its future," he said.

The president went on to say that the rancor and rift that characterized the campaign was understandable, given the nation's challenges.

"That won't change after tonight. And it shouldn't. These arguments we have are a mark of our liberty, and we can never forget that as we speak, people in distant nations are risking their lives right now just for a chance to argue about the issues that matter, the chance to cast their ballots like we did today."

Obama, 51, the country’s first black president, won election in 2008 on a promise of hope and change, but he triumphed this time with a starkly different message: asking voters to stick with him as he continues trying to fix the economy and improve America’s standing in the world.

He defeated Romney, 65, a wealthy venture capitalist who’d been running for president for the better part of a decade. A win for Romney would have been vindication, of sorts, for his family; his father, George, ran unsuccessfully for the Republican presidential nomination in 1968.

The 2012 race highlighted two contrasting visions of the country. Where Romney emphasized the need to lower taxes, relax federal regulations and cut government spending, Obama promised to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans and deploy government’s help in pulling the country out of the economic doldrums.

Despite his image as stiff and disinterested in the plight of the middle class, Romney managed to make the race close by appealing to many voters’ disappointment in Obama and widespread anxiety about the economy. Romney promised to bring a businessman’s sensibility to the job, a point he drove home in the first presidential debate, which he dominated. That performance sparked a surge in the polls that made the race tight right up until Election Day.

But Romney, in the end, was not able to fully convince an edgy public that he could do a better job than Obama. Nor was Romney able to overcome Obama’s image as a more likable guy.

Now Romney may well have run his last race for public office.

Obama will begin his second term no longer a symbol of political catharsis but as a flawed but adaptive leader who took a lot of lumps and learned from them.

The president's re-election means there will likely be no overturning of his signature domestic policy achievement, the 2010 health care reform law. Obama has also promised to raise taxes on those earning more than $250,000 a year.

Obama must also make good on his campaign promises to finally correct America’s economic path by finding ways to add a million more manufacturing jobs, boost domestic energy production, reduce the county’s carbon footprint, shore up Medicare, cut students' college loan costs and slash the national deficit by $4 trillion.

When he returns to the White House, he won’t have much time to savor his victory, because he’ll face the threat of a year-end "fiscal cliff," when a series of tax cuts are set to expire and massive government spending cuts go into effect.

As he noted in his email to supporters Tuesday night: "There's a lot more work to do."

Photo Credit: AP]]>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 05:38:34 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/RomneyConcedesLIM_5114461_722x406_6868547627.jpgGov. Mitt Romney called the president to concede, and prayed for the well-being of the U.S. and President Barack Obama."I wish all of them well, particularly the president, the first lady and their daughters," he said. Romney said, "I ran for office because I'm concerned for America," and added, "Like so many of you, Paul and I have left everything on the field. We have given our all to this campaign."]]>Mon, 19 Nov 2012 14:20:42 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/Brian-Bilbray-1106.jpg

Republican Brian Bilbray officially conceded Friday in his race for the 52nd District Congressional seat.

Bilbray sent out a statement acknowledging that his opponent, San Diego Port Commissioner Scott Peters, won the campaign which garnered national interest.

While ballots were still being counted in San Diego, Peters traveled to Washington D.C. -- where San Diego County's current delegation on Capitol Hill also has gathered, to resume the work of the House of Representatives.

"[Bilbray] wished me luck and offered his support," Peters said in a statement from Washington D.C. "We agreed that while it was a tough, hard-fought campaign, now is the time to put it behind us. I thanked him for his service and look forward to his support as I transition into office."

"I will continue fighting for the issues I believe in and that benefit San Diego, only in a different capacity," Bilbray vowed.

Peters is the first Democrat to represent North County constituents in Congress since 1952.

“There’s much to do," Peters wrote. "I’m encouraged by the tremendous group of colleagues I’ve met here so far: freshman members of Congress, because like me, they all heard loud and clear during their campaigns that voters are tired of the partisanship, tired of politicians who put party over people."

Peters' win gives Democrats their first-ever majority on the county's Congressional delegation, by a 3-2 margin.

In his statement he said he was "grateful to the hundreds of people who walked, called, contributed and gave me their support; it was their energy and enthusiasm that put us over the top in this close race."

Mayor-elect Bob Filner will take office Dec. 3, a day before the county registrar of voters is even required to certify votes to elect him.

He’ll lead more than 10,000 staffers and oversee a $2.75 billion budget but has less than a month to prepare — a turnaround much swifter than other cities with similar government structures.

Other major cities with the strong-mayor form of government, including New York and Chicago, give their leaders more time to ease in. Newly elected leaders in Fresno, Los Angeles and Oakland each get at least two months to hire new employees and set their agenda.

Filner's dash to assemble an administration is mandated by the city charter, which has long required an early December inauguration for its mayors. But Filner will be the first to experience such a whirlwind easing-in period because of the switch to the strong-mayor system approved in 2005.

So Filner will get the first taste of something that former city officials and consultants acknowledge was never considered: a rapid changing of the guard.

“We never, ever, ever gave serious thought to this issue,” said Steve Erie, a University of California-San Diego professor who was one of the chief architects of the strong-mayor system.

Sanders' team also prepared well in advance for a transition. His staffers started working on his transition before he was even elected.

Ronne Froman, a retired Navy rear admiral and Sanders confidant, led the team.

Sanders knew it would take more than 30 days to prepare so his team started six months before the election, she said.

“If we lost, all that work would have been put in the dumper but it was all work that had to be done,” Froman said. “We knew that we had to be ready when we stepped into office.”

And Froman, who later became the city’s chief operating officer under Sanders, had more time than Filner.

The quick transition wasn’t so burdensome in the past.

With the previous council-manager form of government, which generally includes a city manager who runs day-to-day business and a mayor who is part of the city council, the mayor doesn’t need to be ready for an instant crisis. The manager handles it and consults the council as needed.

The strong mayor picks up those responsibilities under the new system approved in 2005, so Filner is tasked with more hires and with setting an agenda for the city. He has yet to provide many specifics on either front.

Filner announced this week that former Councilwoman Donna Frye will lead a new Open Government Department and he offered a post to primary challenger, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher. Fletcher has yet to publicly say whether he’ll accept.

Filner still has a lot to do. He needs to bring in at least a dozen new staffers and may begin considering hundreds of appointments.

He’ll want to find ways to make inroads with the business community and to weigh in on city projects he may soon be embroiled in.

He’ll also have to scrutinize the city’s budget and operations.

It won’t be easy, said former San Diego city manager Jack McGrory, who called the city “a very, very complicated corporation.”

Filner will need to wrap his mind around a budget that varies based on often unpredictable revenue sources — sales-tax hauls, state-shared revenue and more — and spending on crises that can’t be planned.

Glen Sparrow, a Filner supporter who helped with Sanders’ transition, agreed that the 10-term congressman faces a steep learning curve.

“It’s a short period of time to understand a significant operation and remember it’s an operation that is responsible for the health, safety and welfare of a million and a half people so it can’t be taken lightly,” Sparrow said. “You can’t make any mistakes.”

But because of the tight timeline, Filner will be forced to speed date and perhaps put off some key hires.

He’ll likely have to replace at least a dozen top staffers who will depart along with Sanders and consider whether others might be worth keeping, at least for a time.

“It’s a daunting task to have so little time and so many appointments,” said Erie, the UCSD professor.

Sanders’ administration will try to help, said Alex Roth, a spokesman for the mayor's office. The current administration has set several meetings with Filner and his staffers to brief them on important city business, Roth said.

“We all understand that it’s in the city’s best interest for us to get the new mayor up to speed as quickly as possible,” he said.

Lisa Halverstadt is the newest reporter at Voice of San Diego. Know of something she should check out? You can contact her directly at lisa.halverstadt@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.325.0528.

]]>Tue, 13 Nov 2012 06:09:48 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/AP784856178433.jpgPresident Barack Obama beat Republican challenger Mitt Romney in Florida, ending a four-day count, NBC News has declared Saturday. The win gave Obama a final electoral vote tally of 332 to Romney’s 206. The deadline arrived at noon Saturday for Florida’s 67 counties to finish counting their presidential ballots and report them to the secretary of state. The Florida Secretary of State's Office said that with almost 100 percent of the vote counted, Obama led Romney 50 percent to 49.1 percent, a difference of about 74,000 votes, NBC News reported. That was over the half-percent margin where a computer recount would have been automatically ordered unless Romney had waived it. Obama had already clinched re-election on Tuesday before winning Florida's 29 electoral votes. The win gave Obama victories in eight of the nine swing states, losing only North Carolina. In addition to Florida, he won Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire, Wisconsin, Virginia, Colorado and Nevada. Get More at NBC News

San Diego County Registrar of Voters Deborah Seiler has lowered the number of uncounted ballots being processed by staffers.

Registrar officials originally said there were still approximately 475,000 mail-in and provisional votes left to count. Many were mailed in at the last minute, and 275,000 were just dropped off on Election Day.

However on Thursday, the Registrar of voters lowered the total number of outstanding ballots to 375,000, saying that the updated, lower number might shorten the overall counting time by a few days.

The Registrar also noted that the number could change again in the coming days.Either way, the verification and counting process will be lengthy.

Dozens of people are working all hours to sift through tons of envelopes at the Registrar of Voters. It’s a long, tedious process to get all those votes properly counted.

Each one of the envelopes has to be opened by hand. The signature on each envelope has to be checked to make sure someone is not voting twice. Then, they have to be loaded by hand into the machine to actually scan the votes.

Though it may seem a little outdated to do this by hand, the Registrar of Voters office says it's the only way, so voters shouldn’t expect a faster method any time soon.

"I don't really see a shortcut for all of this. We have to be very meticulous. We have to be very careful. There's a lot at stake. Every vote has to count. And every vote has to count only one time. So, there's really not a very good way that we have around all of this,” said Deborah Seiler of the San Diego Registrar of Voters.

The Registrar said it’s the most ballots they’ve ever had to count. The legal deadline to finish counting all of the votes is by Dec. 4 – a full 28 days after the election.

But, realistically, most of the races still in question will be settled before that. Updates from the Registrar will continue to trickle in as more votes are counted.

She will finish her term, but it's unlikely the Democrats will win any seats in the 2014 midterm elections, the newspaper reported.

Last year, the Minority Leader's daughter, Alexandra, told media that she "would retire right now, if the donors she has didn't want her to stay too badly," the newspaper reported.

But Pelosi has a "shocking level of energy" for someone who is 72, according to the newspaper. And Democrats still view her as the "heart and soul of the Congressional caucus and the Democratic Party," retiring Congresswoman Lynn Woolsey said.

A city application notice from April still hangs informing the neighborhood of plans to bulldoze the current home and replace it with an 8,100 square-foot mansion – more than twice its current size, complete with car elevator.

But, the city of San Diego states the project is on hold at request of the applicant.

In the meantime, it's the big plans for the house that has everyone in the coastal neighborhood talking.

Mark Newcomer, who lives right across the street from the Romney home, is curious what the family will do with the existing property.

“There’s definitely lots of rumors that are always floating around,“ he said. “We don't know is the short answer. We've heard it’s something that was going to get done after he won the election, or if he won the election, or if he didn't win the election would be a good time to do it because doing that sort of work while you're in office is maybe tough to manage."

When Mitt returns some neighbors said they'll be glad the secret service isn’t with him - recalling times earlier this year when they'd need to stop and show Identification to drive down the one-way street.

“It’s been a little nerve racking you know," said neighbor Randy Clark. “They take up extra parking spots that's for sure, other than that they tend to be really, really nice people and engaging."

Other neighborhood rumors include Romney buying the house on a bigger lot next door, as it’s under renovation and belongs to a friend and major contributor to Romney's campaign.

While many questions remain, Romney's political future is certain: He won’t be residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. any time soon.

Port Commissioner Scott Peters has maintained a growing lead over U.S. Representative Brian Bilbray in the battle to represent the 52nd Congressional District.

On Monday, the Registrar of Voters released a new round of results in the tight race. Peters, a Democrat, now leads with about 1,900 votes.

Peters' lead on Bilbray, a Republican, has been growing since the morning after elections. Wednesday morning, the vote was narrowly split with just 685 votes separating the two candidates.

There are still about 260,000 mail and provisional ballots that have yet to be counted.

"I didn’t see us quite this good. I think it’s going to really tighten up," Bilbray said after early results were announced showing him in the lead Tuesday night.

Then, when he spoke to supporters several hours later, he warned them it may take days to iron out the race.

After many San Diegans went to bed, Peters pulled ahead with a slight lead and held on until all precincts were in.

The fight for California's newly-drawn 52nd was targeted with some of the most campaign cash and coverage nationwide.

“This district was drawn to be the battleground for the Congressional seats the other Congressional seats are pretty darn safe,” Bilbray told NBC 7 San Diego. “I think this is a great process even though I happen to have to be in the battleground again.”

Bilbray is a Republican has represented the 50th District since 2006 as well as the former 49th District for three terms ending in 2001.

Bilbray voted Tuesday morning with his daughter, who was featured in one of his many campaign ads. Before voting, Bilbray went surfing. He told NBC 7 San Diego that if the warm reception he received from fellow surfers was any indicator of the night’s results, he felt confident in a win.

Peters is a Democrat who represented District 1 on the San Diego City Council for two terms, serving as Council president in his second.

In an interview with NBC 7 San Diego at Golden Hall just hours before the polls closed, Peters said he also felt optimistic after the last minute campaigning of his team. In response to the negative attacks hurled against him, he said he was surprised, but that Congressman Bilbray represents negativity in Washington, D.C.

]]>Thu, 08 Nov 2012 12:00:47 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/boehner+and+obama.jpgNow that the afterglow of his reelection victory has faded, President Barack Obama is getting back to work in Washington on Thursday — and has the daunting challenge of the imminent fiscal cliff to contend with, NBC's First Read team writes. With the Democrats hanging onto a majority in the Senate and the GOP keeping the House, this could be the Democrats' best shot at taking the reins and trying to accomplish tax reform on their own terms, according to First Read — as it is unclear how much fight Republicans have left in them, and whether they want to sustain it for another four years. And Tuesday's election results should give the GOP pause and prompt some soul-searching, First Read writes. The Republican brand has become a structural problem, and the lopsided demographics of the vote should hammer home to the party that it cannot afford to alienate all voting groups other than white men. Blaming Mitt Romney's loss on a boost Hurricane Sandy may have given to Obama's campaign is willfully avoiding the real problem, according to First Read. View Full Story

Between the time Tuesday's presidential race was called and the time Barack Obama took the stage at Chicago's McCormick Place to accept his victory, the president made and received two very important phone calls.

"He spoke with President Clinton. He wanted to call President Clinton after Gov. [Mitt] Romney called because President Clinton was valiant on behalf of this campaign, and, as the president said, [was] our most valuable player," Obama's Chief Campaign Strategist David Axelrod said Wednesday.

"He really wanted to share the moment with him," Axelrod added.

For the most part, Axelrod said Election Night was mostly stress-free.

"The tense time is before the votes start getting counted," he recalled. "As soon as the votes start getting counted, you have models. You can see where the votes are coming in from. We knew very quickly that it was going well."

After a night's sleep at his Hyde Park-Kenwood home, an invigorated and newly re-elected President Obama stopped by his 2012 campaign headquarters in the Prudential Building to meet with the hundreds of volunteers who helped in the effort to secure another four years.

"It was a really emotional visit," Axelrod said. "There were a lot of tears flowing up there and a lot of joy."

Some of the staffers stood on desks to get a better glimpse of the president as he spoke to those who, as Axelrod said, "worked their hearts out."

"He talked about what public service means ... I think the most powerful thing he said was he talked about his own career as a young community organizer and he said to them what inspires him so much is, 'You're so much better than I was. You know so much more,' and he said, 'You give me hope.'"

Back in January, Axelrod announced that he would head to the University of Chicago to create a new Institute of Politics meant to rival the Harvard Kennedy School. The University of Chicago Institute of Politics opens officially in 2013, but began offering preliminary courses in Summer 2012.

Gov. Jerry Brown described voters' approval of his plan to temporarily raise taxes on well-off Californians to fund the state's education system and other services as a decision to raise taxes for the "California Dream."

The plan, which would increase income taxes for residents making more than $250,000 per year and increase the sales tax, was approved after initial returns suggested the measure was headed for a tight race. With 100 percent of precincts reporting, "Yes" votes led "No" votes with 54 percent of the vote.

"We have a vote of the people, I think the only place in America where a state actually said, 'Let's raise our taxes for our kids, for our schools, for our California Dream," Brown said Tuesday night.

A few hours later at a Wednesday news conference, Brown talked about what 54 percent of voters communicated with approval of the measure.

"This is something around 54 percent, so like everywhere else in the world there's division," said Brown. "You don't want to over-read what the voters say. I see this as a vote of confidence with, certainly, some reservations."

LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy told NBC4 the district would have faced a catastrophic funding hole without Prop 30.

"It would have taken a month of the school year, immediately," said Deasy. "We were going to watch the dismantling of public education."

Prop 30's tax increases on earnings over $250,000 would be in effect for seven years. A sales tax increase of a quarter-cent cent will be in effect for four years.

Its rival measure, Prop 38, garnered less support. That measure, under which taxes would be raised on most Californians to aid the state's struggling education system, picked up just 28 percent of the vote. The measure, promoted by billionaire Molly Munger, would increase income tax for most Californians for 12 years, depending on how much income those taxpayers earn.

Brown staked his political reputation on Prop 30, saying the measure was needed to save the state's education system and other services. If it did not pass, trigger cuts were set to go into effect that would take billions from public schools, community colleges and state universities.

Critics have argued that Prop 30 will not necessarily increase classroom spending. The money will go to the state's general fund and despite written assurances about accountability and support for schools, there is no guarantee that education will benefit.

“Prop 30 will not increase education spending," said NO on 30 spokesman Aaron McClear. "Instead, it just goes to the politicians to spend on whatever they want.”

Brown said Wednesday that the plan should not be considered a "cure."

"The state has been reaching into the pocket of schools districts because its couldn't pay our bills," he said. "Instead of the state borrowing hat-in-hand from our school districts, we're going to have enough money to fund the schools as our constitution requires. We're not going to see the big cutbacks."

Other critics say a tax hike would only work with voters if it is paired with reforms, such as allowing merit pay for teachers and eliminating the teacher seniority system.

“If [voters] feel they are getting something for the additional taxes, they will pay," said David Fleming of the Los Angeles County Business Federation. "They’ll probably say yes but right now they don’t because they feel it's all a one-way street."

The Mervin Field Poll, out last week, showed that a close vote was likely. The poll showed support dropping below 50 percent, but it also showed 14 percent undecided.

The most important number for President Barack Obama on Election Day was 270, the number of electoral votes needed to clinch his re-election. But for the rest of us, the culmination of the marathon 2012 presidential race provided a host of other fascinating figures.

From the numbers of women elected to the U.S. Senate to the stack of Donald Trump's disgruntled tweets after the race was called for Obama, here is a numerical guide to Election Day 2012:

303 – The number of electoral votes Obama was projected to have won as of Wednesday morning, with Florida still too close to call, according to NBC News. He needed 270 to win reelection.

206 – The number of electoral votes former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was projected to have secured, as per NBC News.

2,625,875 – The number of votes separating Obama and Romney in the popular vote count with 97 percent of results in, according to NBC News.

118 million – The number of Americans who voted in the presidential election, with 97 percent of precincts reporting, according to The Associated Press. The number is sure to rise.

131 million – The number of people who cast ballots for president back in 2008, according to the AP.

71 – The percentage of Latinos who voted for Obama in this election, NBC News reported. Latinos represented 10 percent of the electorate.

27 – The percent of the Latino vote that Romney received, the lowest for any Republican in a generation, according to Slate.

89 – The percentage of all votes Romney won that came from whites, compared to 56 percent for Obama.

327,452 –- The peak number of tweets per minute after networks called the election for Obama at 11:19 p.m. ET. Twitter said the moment was its most-tweeted moment of Election 2012 by far.

396,372 – The number of new Facebook "likes" Obama received on Election Day.

20 — The number of women who will occupy the U.S. Senate come January, which will be a record high, NBC News reported.

53 —The number of U.S. Senate seats NBC News projected Democrats held. Another seat was held by Democratic-caucusing Vermont Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders, and a seat in Maine was won by Independent Angus King, who Democrats were confident would vote with them although he refused to say with whom he would caucus.

12:50 – The time early Wednesday morning that Romney called Obama to congratulate him on his victory, according to the Boston Globe.

1,118 – The number of words in Romney's prepared victory speech, according to the AP.

455,000 (and counting) – The number of people who retweeted President Obama’s "four more years" message with a photo showing him hugging his wife, according to Twitter.

9 – The number of tweets sent by Donald Trump after Obama was declared winner -- that Trump didn't delete later -- starting with "Well, back to the drawing board!" and concluding with "House of Representatives shouldn’t give anything to Obama unless he terminates Obamacare." Trump deleted other tweets alleging Obama lost the popular vote and calling for "revolution," Mashable reported.

4 in 10 – The ratio of voters who said in exit polls they thought the economy is getting better, according to the AP.

10 – The number of defeated Democratic House incumbents, according to Politico.

12 – The number of defeated Republican House incumbents, per Politico.

2 – The number of states (Maine and Maryland) that approved gay marriage by popular vote, bringing the total number of states where same-sex marriage is legal to eight.

0 – The number of states where voters had previously voted in favor of allowing gay marriage.

1 – The number of members of Congress with backgrounds as reindeer ranchers and Santa Claus impersonators, according to the Detroit Free Press.

Hours after San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio conceded in the election of San Diego's next mayor, Mayor-elect Bob Filner gave the first look at his administration during a post-election news conference held at a University Heights park.

Speaking in front of a playground at Trolley Barn Park, Filner stood with his fiancee Bronwyn Ingram and promised a "very open" administration that will come in with respect, understanding but will not be status-quo.

“I purposely had this news conference not in city hall to show we are going to respect and concentrate on neighborhoods,” he explained.

Filner thanked DeMaio for his respectful concession speech early Wednesday that marked the end of a grueling 17-month-long race and a record $13 million spent on attacks and campaigning.

"It’s time for all sides to come together and put the best interest of San Diego first," DeMaio said.

Filner echoed those sentiments saying, "I need people who are experts in everything we do in our city and I will call on those who did support me and oppose me."

DeMaio dropped from a lead at about midnight, dropping 1 percent as more precincts reported. Then, at about 12:40 a.m., Filner jumped to lead the race with just over a 2,000 votes.

Filner has 51 percent and DeMaio had 49 percent of votes with 100 percent of precincts reporting. There are still more than 475,000 absentee and provisional ballots that need to be counted. The San Diego County Registrar said the final tally will be Thursday by 5 p.m.

With 10,000-vote lead, Filner said he can confidently look forward to his inauguration and term as mayor.

"I'm going to involve everybody," Filner said in NBC 7's newsroom Wednesday morning. "And I think the Republican members of the council are going to be surprised at how inclusive that we do this administration."

"He’s a long-time San Diegan and my hope is that he will continue to move our city forward with the kinds of reforms that have fueled San Diego’s turn-around," said Sanders in a statement. "I wish him all the best and look forward to working with him to ensure a smooth transition."

DeMaio, a fiscal-conservative Republican, poured millions of his own fortune into his campaign, selling off two successful companies try and defeat the odds in a city accustomed to electing moderate mayors.

Filner says he will be an activist for San Diego communities, particularly those that have been neglected over the years.

He also promised an end to what he called "the vilification of our public employees and the unions that support them. That is going to stop."

He also harkened back to the promise made throughout his campaign that he would shift the power in City Hall to those who have been underrepresented in past administrations.

“The same people who are at the seat of power are at this table,” Filner said in the speech, referring to the current City Hall dynamics. “And I said to these people ‘I’m just going to move you way over. And we’re going to have new people at the table. And they’re gonna look a little different. They’re the people at the neighborhoods that have been neglected. The working people of this city. The people who care about the environment, the people who care about education. They have not been at the table.”

The record-high amount of money spent throughout both campaigns, combined with 29 public debates from June to November, amplified their attacks on one another.

Asked if he had any regrets about the campaign, Filner said earlier Tuesday, "The tone was pretty negative, I regret that. I think the people of San Diego deserve a positive vision."

On the other hand, DeMaio said he does not regret the tone of the race, but that "Filner ran a spirited campaign."

Though the race is non-partisan, the political divide has been the driving factor in the race. And with a 40-percent Democratic electorate in San Diego, it appeared the city's make-up would end up determining the outcome. By early Wednesday morning, Filner took the lead with late Democratic votes.

But his fiscal reforms and background as a conservative politician have stuck with those he will work with on the city council. Many have gone on to endorse Filner – who isn’t necessarily known for his warmth.

“The one thing DeMaio and Filner do have in common is that they have a competitive, abrasive personality,” said Political Science Professor Carl Luna.

In an interview with NBC 7, Filner said Dumanis’ criticism was unwarranted. He said his behavior is passionate, not erratic, but that one of his weakest qualities is that very few people understand his sense of humor.

“I plead guilty to being passionate,” he said. “Leaders have to be passionate, and that’s how you get things done.”

Aside from their personalities, the two presented platform goals that promised to lead San Diego in one of two very different directions.

Both candidates committed to repairing San Diego’s $2.1 billion pension fund shortfall, but the repair work has been a long time coming. Years of shortchanging contributions to the pension fund spawned the city's nickname, "Enron-by-the-Sea" in 2004.

In June 2011, DeMaio introduced what would become Prop. B, the pension reform initiative he helped craft. The measure, approved by voters in June, transitions city employees except for police officers from the current pension system to a 401(k) type of retirement contribution.

The reform vows to save at least $1.2 billion through 2014, but that savings depends on a 5-year pay freeze for new city employees.

“We can make San Diego work again,” DeMaio said in his concession speech. “It’s up to all of us to come together and look at good ideas and we’re not going to place a label on them, we’re not going to judge them based on who they come from.”

Ed. Note: An earlier version of this article stated DeMaio would have been the first openly gay mayor of a major city. He would be the first openly gay Republican mayor, in fact.

Prop 33, Auto Insurance: NoA "Yes" vote meant insurance companies would have been allowed to set prices based on a driver's insurance history.

Prop 34, Death Penalty: NoA "Yes" vote would have repealed the state's death penalty sentence, replacing it with life imprisonment without possibility of parole. The change would have been applied retroactively to existing sentences.

Prop 38, Taxes for Education, Early Childhood: NoA rival to Prop 30, this measure was proposed by billionaire Molly Munger. The temporary tax increase would have been based on earnings using a sliding scale.

Prop 39, Business Tax for Energy Funding: YesMulti-state businesses are required to pay income taxes based on percentage of California sales. Revenues for five years are set aside for clean and efficient energy projects.

Prop 40, Redistricting State Senate: YesThe "Yes" vote approved new State Sentate districts created by the Citizens Redistricing Commission.

Photo Credit: Getty Images]]>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 15:20:05 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/obama+claps.jpgIt was largely demography that catapulted President Barack Obama into a second term on Tuesday, NBC's First Read team writes. The president won the votes of racial minorities by a landslide — 93 percent of black, 73 percent of Asians and 71 percent of Latinos, up from 67 percent four years ago. And as demographics shift away from white majorities in the U.S., First Read writes, the GOP can no longer afford to count on winning national elections with white votes alone. Obama also won the lion's share of women's votes, with 55 percent of women backing Obama to 43 percent backing former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Women were widely split by demographics, however: Married women broke for Romney 53 to 46 percent, while unmarried women broke for Obama by a landslide 68 to 30 percent. Obama won three out of five voters with family incomes below $50,000, while Romney led among middle and upper income voters. Obama also dominated in the crucial swing counties in battleground states, plus showed tactical muscle in the race overall, according to First Read. Get More at NBC News

Photo Credit: AP]]>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 12:11:47 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/rainbow-flag.gifMaine and Maryland made history Tuesday, approving gay marriage by popular vote, according to NBC News projections. Those victories for gay rights advocates came less than a year after Maryland lawmakers passed a gay marriage bill and just three years after Mainers rejected gay marriage in a referendum. Washington state also voted Tuesday on a measure to keep gay marriage legal, months after state lawmakers passed a measure approving it, but results were too close to call early Wednesday, NBC News reported. In Minnesota, a proposed state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage was also too close to call. With the addition of Maine and Maryland, eight states will now allow gay marriage. "Tonight we’ve taken the talking point away that marriage equality cannot win at the ballot box," Fred Sainz of the Human Rights Campaign told NBC News. President Barack Obama’s recent support for same-sex marriage likely played a role in the victories, Sainz said. Earlier this summer, a Pew Research Center poll found 48 percent of Americans favoring gay marriage, up from 31 percent in 2004. Get More at NBC News

With most of the votes counted, an incumbent and a heavyweight South County Democrat are leading the races for two seats on the Chula Vista City Council.

Residents also are backing a measure aimed at how the city elects its representatives.

Until today, council members have been elected at-large, i.e. by all residents casting ballots for all candidates. Early returns show that 62 percent of voters favor electing representatives by district, where a representative is chosen by a divided portion of the city, like in San Diego.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, incumbent Councilwoman Pam Bensoussan has a 19-point lead over challenger Larry Breitfelder, who lost against Councilwoman Pat Aguilar in 2010.

Bensoussan thanked the many volunteers who helped her campaign when she spoke at the U.S. Grant, where the Lincoln Club was holding a post-election soirée.

Bensoussan received strong support from all sides of the political spectrum with endorsements from the Labor Council, the Lincoln Club, the San Diego County Democratic Party and other business and community groups.

Linda Wagner, the chief council aide to outgoing Councilman Steve Castaneda and a fixture at City Hall, was losing by nearly 7,000 votes as of 6 a.m. Wednesday to former Assemblywoman Mary Salas.

Still, Wagner remained optimistic as the night drew to a close at Golden Hall.

“I feel fantastic,” Wagner said. “We’ve knocked on so many doors, and collected so much feedback from folks who are just too busy with work and their lives to come into City Hall, but who have some real concerns about issues facing this city. I’ve been watching these races long enough to see them turn around.”

The Chula Vista City Council races are officially non-partisan.

In other South County races, incumbent Coronado Mayor Casey Tanaka held onto a startling 40-point lead over his challenger Councilwoman Barbara Denny.

As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, Brian Patrick Bilbray was among the top two vote-getters for a seat on the Imperial Beach City Council.

The top-two candidates earn a spot on the Imperial Beach council, but longtime councilman Jim King was less than a 100 votes away in the third spot.

The forerunner of that race is a new name, Bobby Patton, a lifeguard closely aligned with Councilman Ed Spriggs, elected in 2010.

Southwestern Trustee Humberto Peraza and San Diego City College professor William Stewart appeared to win a spot on the South County community college board, and Democrat Mitch Thompson held onto a few point lead on the Otay Water District board throughout the night.

Finally, in National City, Councilwoman Alejandra Sotelo-Solis received the most votes in a top two system, where incumbent Rosalie Zarate fell behind challenger Jerry Cano, an environmentalist and City Hall activist.

In state politics, voters cast their ballots in two important races shaping California's political future.

Democrat Marty Block, a four-year veteran of the State Assembly, appears headed for the State Senate, in the 39th District.

He said Democrats will be running the show in Sacramento, with a solid majority in both the State Senate, and Assembly.

"With two-thirds now in the Senate, and we're going to get close to two-thirds in the Assembly, I think we'll break the stalemate,” Block said. “I think with the logjam now broken, we can do some good things for California."

Maienschein is a former San Diego City councilman, who says his bi-partisan work on State Route 56 and recovery efforts on the county's two massive wildfires, will serve him well, in Sacramento.

"I’ve been somebody who's worked well with democrats and Republicans. I'm not a big believer in labeling people and vilifying people, being an ideologue,” Maienschein said. “That's never something that I've done in my career, and don't intend to start now."

Also, former state Assemblywoman Mary Salas held 54 percent of the vote over senior council aide Linda Wagner in the race for Seat 4.

In Seat 3, Bensoussan has heavy backing from the San Diego County Democratic Party, the Chula Vista Democratic Club and the San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council.

Bensoussan was also endorsed by the pro-business Lincoln Club, a right-leaning organization that favored her opponent Breitfelder during the 2010 council races.

That endorsement opens the way for campaign funding for Bensoussan from former Chula Vista councilman David Malcolm, the group’s political action committee co-chair and a close ally of Republican Mayor Cheryl Cox.

First elected in 2008, Bensoussan is a professional certified art and antique appraiser. Breitfelder served on the Otay Water District from 2002 to 2010, and is the founding president of the Chula Vista Taxpayers Association.

Meanwhile, Salas is vying for an empty seat on the council, running against Wagner. Salas has raised more than three times her opponent with heavy support from mobile home park owners, according to the latest information available. Both candidates are registered Democrats.

Key issues in the race include rent control at Chula Vista’s 33 mobile home parks and the future development of the Chula Vista waterfront.

In the embattled Sweetwater district, six candidates are striving for two seats on a South County high school district board that manages a $320 million budget and 41,000 students.

Incumbent Pearl Quiñones appeared to hang onto her seat Tuesday night in the Sweetwater Union High School District board race, with about 85 percent of the votes counted.

The South Bay board member is facing felony bribery charges, tied to the San Diego County District Attorney’s “pay to play” corruption investigation. She has pleaded not guilty.

Quiñones is being elected to her fourth consecutive term on the South County school board. She failed to secure an endorsement from her own Democratic party, but had strong support from the mayoral forerunner Congressman Bob Filner. She bested three challengers with her closest opponent 8-points behind as of 2:20 a.m. Wednesday.

"I didn’t see us quite this good. I think it’s going to really tighten up," Bilbray said after early results were announced showing him in the lead.

Then, when he spoke to supporters several hours later, he warned them it may take days to iron out the race.

After many San Diegans went to bed, Peters pulled ahead with a slight lead and held on until all precincts were in.

The fight for California's newly-drawn 52nd was targeted with some of the most campaign cash and coverage nationwide.

“This district was drawn to be the battleground for the Congressional seats the other Congressional seats are pretty darn safe,” Bilbray told NBC 7 San Diego. “I think this is a great process even though I happen to have to be in the battleground again.”

For election-night results and all the issues facing voters this election, check out our Decision 2012 page

Bilbray is a Republican has represented the 50th District since 2006 as well as the former 49th District for three terms ending in 2001.

Bilbray voted Tuesday morning with his daughter, who was featured in one of his many campaign ads. Before voting, Bilbray went surfing. He told NBC 7 San Diego that if the warm reception he received from fellow surfers was any indicator of the night’s results, he felt confident in a win.

Peters is a Democrat who represented District 1 on the San Diego City Council for two terms, serving as Council president in his second.

In an interview with NBC 7 San Diego at Golden Hall just hours before the polls closed, Peters said he also felt optimistic after the last minute campaigning of his team. In response to the negative attacks hurled against him, he said he was surprised, but that Congressman Bilbray represents negativity in Washington, D.C.

It came as no surprise, but Dianne Feinstein was re-elected Tuesday to her fourth sixth-term seat as U.S. senator representing California.

The 79-year-old San Francisco Democrat faced a little-known challenger: Elizabeth Emken, a 49-year-old Republican from Danville, a small suburb near Oakland.

For "Di-Fi" - as the veteran senator has been nicknamed - winning another election was long considered to be "cakewalk," said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University and an NBC political consultant.

Major mainstream newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle have all endorsed Feinstein, too. Feinstein's campaign had raised nearly $14 million through Sept. 30, campaign records showed, while Emken had raised slightly more than $700,000.

Feinstein is probably best known for these roles: chairing the Senate Intelligence Committee, supporting same sex marriage and immigration reform, and working to improve California's infrastructure.

After many months, countless attack ads and nearly $2 billion raised and spent, the presidential campaign is finally coming to a close. To help put the long slog of a race into perspective, we’ve dipped into the archives and come up with a list of some of the campaign’s most pivotal, and memorable moments.

There was a time, more than a year ago, when Texas Gov. Rick Perry was considered the front runner among a strong field of Republican primary candidates that included Rep. Michele Bachmann of Minnesota, conservative talk radio host Herman Cain, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum. But Perry had a crushing weakness: muddy debate performances. His string of live-action flubs culminated on Nov. 9, 2011, when he tried to name the three federal agencies he’d eliminate if he became president.

"It's three agencies of government when I get there that are gone," Perry said. "Commerce, Education, and the…what's the third one there? Let's see." Nearly a minute passed, as some of the other candidates tried to help him out with suggestions. But it did no good. “The third agency of government I would do away with - the education, the uh, the commerce and let’s see. I can’t the third one. I can’t. Sorry. Oops.” Later, he remembered: the Department of Energy. But it was too late. Perry was dogged by speculation that he would drop out. He vowed to fight on, but by January he was gone.

Cain withdraws from race

Even the most outsider candidates seem to have their surges of popularity, and for a brief time Herman Cain had his with a "9-9-9" tax plan. And then he fell just as quickly, as a series of women came forward with allegations that he had sexually harassed them while he ran the National Restaurant Association in the 1990s. Another woman claimed she had carried on a 13-year extramarital affair with him. Cain denied it all, but the charges overwhelmed his campaign, and on December 9, 2011, he dropped out, citing the “continued hurt on me and my family.”

Santorum shocks Romney

Perhaps Tom Brokaw said it best when he summed up Rick Santorum’s dogged candidacy by comparing the conservative former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania to a Hollywood action hero. "He's like a character in a Bruce Willis movie," Brokaw quipped during the head of the primary season. "He just knows how to stay alive.”

Santorum’s insurgency began with a surprising showing in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3. The Iowa GOP originally announced Mitt Romney the winner by eight votes, but reversed itself less than two weeks later, when a closer count revealed that Santorum had won by 34 votes. The difference was more than just a few votes; it established Santorum as a force to be reckoned with, and he rode that momentum for months, picking up primary victories in February and March. Romney finally got the better of Santorum in April, reeling off three victories that resulted in Santorum withdrawing on April 4.

Biden forces Obama’s hand on same-sex marriage

Vice President Joe Biden is known for his spontaneity, which can catch even his closest allies off guard. At no time was was that more evident than on May 6, when Biden went on NBC’s “Meet the Press” and declared that he was “absolutely comfortable” with same-sex marriage. The statement caught President Barack Obama by surprise, and effectively forced his hand on the issue. Obama had once stated his opposition to same-sex marriage, but had more recently conceded that his stance was “evolving,” and apparently intended to declare his support some time just before the Democratic National Convention in August. Instead, on May 9, Obama gave an interview the ABC News in which he endorsed same-sex marriage. "At a certain point, I've just concluded that, for me personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married." Biden reportedly apologized to Obama for upsetting the president’s plans.

Romney clinches nomination

The race between President Obama and Mitt Romney officially began on May 29, when Romney clinched the Republican presidential nomination with a landslide victory in Texas. The achievement was largely symbolic, because he was already considered the front-runner, and most of his challengers, including Rick Santorum and Ron Paul, had dropped out. Romney, whose father, George, a Michigan governor, failed in his run for the Republican nomination in 1968, vindicated that loss and became the first Mormon to become a major-party nominee. "I am honored that Americans across the country have given their support to my candidacy,” Romney announced. “And I am humbled to have won enough delegates."

Romney picks Paul Ryan

One of the biggest problems Romney faced as the GOP’s nominee was ambivalence from the party’s conservative wing. His solution was to pick Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin as his running mate. Ryan, the 42-year-old chairman of the House Budget Committee, was the author of a budget proposal that called for steep tax reductions, aggressive spending cuts, and a reorganization of the way Medicare and Medicaid operate. In short, Ryan was the answer to conservatives’ prayers: he was young, aggressive, well-spoken and, as a photo spread in Time illustrated, was in really good shape.

The choice highlighted the difference between the two campaigns on entitlements, taxes, the role of government in American life, and social issues, such as abortion. “There are a lot of people in the other party who might disagree with Paul Ryan,” Romney said at a rally in which he introduced Ryan. “I don't know of anyone who doesn't respect his character and judgment.” Ryan promised that he and Romney “won’t duck the tough issues. We will lead.”

Eastwood’s empty chair

On paper, Romney was the headliner of the Republican National Convention. But he was nearly outshone by an unlikely political speech-maker: Oscar-winning director Clint Eastwood, who was introduced as a surprise guest just before Romney was scheduled to take the stage in Tampa on Aug. 30 and formally accept the GOP nomination. Working without a script or teleprompter, Eastwood, 82, delivered a long, rambling monologue that mocked Obama and Biden. He arranged for an empty chair to be brought on stage with him, and conducted an imaginary conversation with the president. The crowd of delegates roared, but the speech delayed Romney’s by 10 minutes and dominated discussion of the night’s events.

The Big Dog returns

Obama, too, was upstaged at his party’s convention. But unlike Romney’s choice of Eastwood, Obama pretty much knew what he was getting when he asked Clinton to formally nominate him at the Democratic National Convention’s second night in Charlotte on Sept. 5. The president and Clinton had never been close – their rivalry dated back to Hilary Clinton’s primary battle against Obama in 2008 – but they agreed to bury the hatchet in order to keep the White House in Democratic hands. Clinton, out of office for 12 years, clearly relished the opportunity to invoke the fiscal prosperity of the late 1990s that marked his second term as president, delivering a sparkling speech that argued that Obama deserved another four years to fix the economy. Clinton continued stumping for Obama through Election Day.

Romney’s “47 percent” remarks

America got a rare glimpse of an unexpurgated Mitt Romney in September, when Mother Jones released a secretly recorded video of the former governor speaking to wealthy donors in Florida. Taken by a small camera or cell phone resting on a table, the video captured Romney saying how he wasn’t trying to appeal to the “47 percent of the people” who will vote for Mr. Obama “no matter what.” These voters, he said, were “dependent upon government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the government has a responsibility to care for them.” The video threatened to upend his campaign, and Romney, who had battled a prevailing image of him as out of touch with middle-class voters, immediately sought to contain the damage. He conceded the remarks were “not elegantly stated” and insisted, “this is a campaign about the 100 percent.” But the quote dogged him for the rest of the race.

Romney dominates first debate

It was the wrong time for the president to take a nap. Just when Obama seemed to be pulling away in the polls, Romney routed him in the first presidential debate on Oct. 3. The Republican aggressively questioned the president’s ability to rescue the economy, but Obama often seemed uninterested in fighting back. Split-screen views of the debate showed Romney castigating Obama while Obama looked down as his lectern, grimly taking notes.

As front runner, Obama appeared to have adopted a strategy of caution, which rapidly backfired. Romney immediately gained ground in the polls, and pulled within striking distance of the president. Later, after he’d had a chance to review a tape of the debate, Obama conceded that he’d screwed up. In an appearance at a charity event with Romney, Obama joked about “the nice, long nap I had in the first debate.”

An unlikely hero to emerge from the first debate was Big Bird, after Romney put the character’s employer, PBS, on his hit list of government subsidies he’d cut. Immediately, supporters of Big Bird took to social media to defend the yellow-feathered victim. That weekend, Big Bird showed up on Saturday Night Live to defend himself.

Obama went on to rally in the second presidential debate, attacking Romney as a wealthy, far-right candidate who was masking himself as a moderate. At one point, the two men got in each other’s faces, appearing as if they might come into contact.

Their third and final debate, limited to foreign policy issues, was more subdued, and this time it was Romney who took a more cautious approach, while the president used sarcasm to mock Romney’s lack of experience in international affairs.

Sandy forces a pause in the race

Hurricane Sandy pummeled the Northeast a week before Election Day, forcing the candidates to briefly suspend their campaigns. As the devastation deepened, both men held off returning to the trail until after the worst was over. Whether the storm affects the race's result is a matter of debate, as questions remain about how millions of people still without power or access to transportation will get to the polls.

A record number of San Diegans cast their ballots at the San Diego County Registrar's Office.

As of 6 p.m., there were roughly 1500 voters dropping off their ballots or using the polling center to cast their votes.

Voters will go to the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 6 to cast their ballots in several key races and NBC 7 San Diego is planning extensive election night coverage with live results on television, social, mobile and our website.

As of 7 a.m. on Wednesday, less than 2,000 votes separate the two, with Roberts in a slight lead. Thousands of provisional and absentee ballots were still being counted at the county registrar's office.

The race however had flipped throughout the evening with Danon in the lead and then Roberts.

Roberts gathered with volunteers to thank them and the voters but was hesitant to claim victory outright.

"I’m very optimistic about the results, the election results still are not certified yet," Roberts said. "We don’t want to count our chickens before they hatch."

The Deputy Mayor of Solana Beach characterized his campaign as a "David and Goliath story" claiming, “We were outspent 7 to 1 and yet we’re still almost 2,000 votes ahead in the current count so we’re feeling very optimistic."

The two-decade incumbent, Pam Slater-Price, is retiring from the public sector, paving the way for the board's first new member since her first term in office 20 years ago.

Danon is Congressman Brian Bilbray's chief of staff, currently on unpaid leave of absence.

Though the race is nonpartisan, the candidates’ opposing political viewpoints will make a difference in how either helps manage the county’s $5 billion budget.

PROPOSITION AA - San Dieguito Union High School District - $449 million

PROPOSITION CC - Del Mar Union School District - $76.8 million

PROPOSITION EE - MiraCosta Community College District - $497 million

Propositions C, D, and Y are considered "Reauthorization Bonds," meaning the measures are versions of previously passed bond measures. The new measures would authorize the issuance of new bonds.

The number of bonds in the county has grown significantly since 2010, when there were four school bonds on ballots countywide.In 2008, there were eight, including one in the Primary Election, versus three in 2006.

“We’ve definitely seen an increase in bonds for schools and community colleges in general,” said Scott Himelstein, director of USD’s Center for Education Policy and Law in a previous article. “I think it’s viewed in these fiscal times as a way to bring dollars to the district not controlled by the state.”

Himelstein said the rise and success of bond measures on the ballots over the past several years shows that voters generally favor bonds over tax increases, such as the state's upcoming Proposition 30.

That measure, proposed by Gov. Jerry Brown, would raise personal income tax on individuals who make more than $250,000 per year for the next seven years, and would use some of the revenue for schools throughout the state.

On the other hand, bond measures such as those set to appear on the November ballot use a percentage of property taxes to pay off loans purchased under the measures. Most go directly to capital improvement projects or much-needed educational supplies, district advocates say.

Many school districts urge the passage of the state’s Prop. 30 in addition to their bond measures. But the bond measures tend to appeal more to the local community, and are marketed as district-specific, said Himelstein.

“People feel much more comfortable paying taxes that support their local schools,” he said. “You drive by these schools, you know the teachers, maybe you have kids who go to the schools.”

However the bonds have their drawbacks, Himelstein pointed out. They are financed over a period of time, usually about 20 years. With so many bond measures passing, the debt runs the risk of piling up, especially if property values in the area continue declining.

“Within these bonds, there is a perilous future debt,” he said. “It raises some serious fiscal questions.”

The potential risk became especially apparent after Poway Unified School District came under fire for using a financing method called a Capital Appreciation Bond. The bond will eventually cost 10 times more than the district borrowed, as our media partner, the Voice of San Diego reported.

“The general public, in my view, doesn’t have a full understanding of what these bonds mean in terms of the debt,” Himelstein said.

He urged voters facing a decision on a school bond this fall to look into how the money will be spent, and how it will be financed. For example, bonds that pledge money to deferred maintence projects are especially favorable, he said, since on average, schools in San Diego are about 43 years old.

For more information on this year’s election, check out the County Registrar of Voters’ website, or read through our coverage of election issues on our Decision 2012 page.

Photo Credit: Getty Images/Flickr RF]]>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:50:31 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/capitol+generic+federal+government+generic.jpgRepublicans are projected to hold onto the majority they won in the U.S. House two years ago, NBC News reported, projecting the GOP to hang onto 238 seats to the Democrats' 197, after entering the night with 240. "The American people want solutions, and tonight they responded by renewing our House Republican majority," declared House Speaker John Boehner, who ran unopposed in his re-election bid. Some Democrats were victorious or locked in close battles in some closely-watched congressional races, however. On Chicago's south side, Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., who has garnered headlines for his absence from Washington as he seeks treatment for bipolar disorder, cruised to reelection, while in the city's northern suburbs, Iraq War veteran and Democrat Tammy Duckworth unseated freshman Tea Party Republican Rep. Joe Walsh. In Minnesota, Rep. Michele Bachmann was heading back to Congress, NBC News projected Wednesday, after her tight reelection race and, last year, a failed presidential bid. And in Florida, freshman GOP Rep. Allen West, who drew scrutiny for claiming the president is Muslim, was in a dead heat with Democrat Patrick Murphy after a bruising race. Get More at NBC News

Elizabeth Warren took back a U.S. Senate seat in Massachusetts for Democrats after beating Republican Sen. Scott Brown, helping her party hang onto its majority in the chamber, according to NBC News projections.

With 95 percent of the vote in, the Harvard law professor and consumer advocate had 54 percent of the vote compared to 46 percent for Brown, NBC News reported.

"For every family that has been chipped and squeezed and hammered, we're going to fight for you," Warren said in a victory speech Tuesday night. "We're going to fight for a level playing field and we're going to put people back to work."

Warren's projected victory came after a tough, contentious battle against the incumbent, who stunned the political establishment in 2010 when he won the seat held for 47 years by the late Sen. Ted Kennedy. She will become the first woman to represent Massachusetts in the Senate.

Warren, 63, had the backing of the president, who tapped her to create the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and gave her a prime speaking spot at the Democratic National Convention this fall. She cast herself as a champion of consumers, the middle class and women, who overwhelmingly supported her bid, according to The New York Times.

Brown, 53, portrayed himself as a moderate everyman in a state dominated by Democrats.

"You've got no business in politics unless you respect the judgment of people," Brown said in a concession speech Tuesday. "And if you run for office, you've got to be able to take it either way, winning or losing, and I accept the decision of voters."

The race drew national attention for the amount of money poured into it — at least $68 million, according to The Associated Press — and for several flaps that came out of the months-long contest.

It was Warren's speech about the role of government in private sector success that morphed into the "you didn't build that" line Republicans used against the president.

"There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own, nobody," Warren said last August, according to the Los Angeles Times. "You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear: You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for, you hired workers the rest of us paid to educate, you were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for."

President Obama riffed on that speech with his own, which became fodder for the Mitt Romney campaign and led to accusations that he was anti-business.

Warren also came under scrutiny after admitting that she had identified herself as a minority, claiming Native American ancestry in a law faculty directory.

It's almost a given that Diane Feinstein will be re-elected for her fourth sixth-term seat as U.S. senator representing California.

The 79-year-old San Francisco Democrat is facing a little-known challenger: Elizabeth Emken, a 49-year-old Republican from Danville, a small suburb near Oakland.

Still, for "Di-Fi" - as the veteran senator has been nicknamed - winning another election should be a "cakewalk," said Larry Gerston, a political science professor at San Jose State University and an NBC political consultant.

The latest polling showed that Feinstein had 51 percent of the vote, while Emken had 32 percent. Feinstein last won her seat in 2006 with a commanding 59.4 percent of the vote. She also beat out 23 challengers in the June primary election, including five from her own party.

Major mainstream newspapers including the Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, San Jose Mercury News and San Francisco Chronicle have all endorsed Feinstein, too. Feinstein's campaign had raised nearly $14 million through Sept. 30, campaign records showed, while Emken had raised slightly more than $700,000.

Feinstein is probably best known for these roles: chairing the Senate Intelligence Committee, supporting same sex marriage and immigration reform, and working to improve California's infrastructure.

Emken, meanwhile, is a political novice.

According to her campaign, she is the former vice president for government relations at Autism Speaks, an advocacy group for autism. Her 20-year-old son, Alex, has autism spectrum disorder. She was an efficiency and cost cutting expert at IBM and graduated from UCLA in 1984 with dual degrees in economics and political science. She has campaigned on a platform against excessive debt and "greater accountability."

She has been endorsed by the National Tax Limitation Committee president and founder, Lew Uhler and the conservative Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association.

Emken hasn't resisted taking shots at Feinstein - specifically for her age and how it relates to the use of modern technology. In a statement emailed to NBC this week, her campaign called Feinstein an "out-of-touch entrenched incumbant," and described Emken as a "fighter and problem solver."

In January, Emken accused Feinstein of being out of touch with the 21st century for failing to use Facebook or Twitter. "If you want to know what she's doing in Washington, you'll have to mail her a letter or send her a telegram," Emken sent out in a fundraising letter.

The next day, Feinstein, who already had a Twitter account, but had never used it, tweeted five times, including a link to the State of the Union address.

]]>Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:06:38 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/vote-day-P5.jpgVoters in eleven states across the nation were selecting governors in Tuesday’s elections with many of the candidates facing off on how to tackle troubled state budgets and create jobs in a nation still mired in a sluggish economy. The Democrats were defending eight seats and Republicans three. Democrat Margaret Hassan secured the governorship in New Hampshire, defeating Republican Ovide Lamontagne in a race dominated by taxes and social issues. In North Carolina, GOP candidate Pat McCrory replaced sitting Democrat Bev Purdue. Democrat Earl Ray Tomblin was the projected winner in West Virginia. NBC News declared Republican Mike Pence as the projected winner in Indiana, and Democrat Jay Nixon the projected winner in Missouri. Four incumbent governors, two from each major party, were also declared winners: Democrats Jack Markell of Delaware and Peter Shumlin of Vermont; and Republicans Jack Dalrymple of North Dakota and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert. Only two gubernatorial races still remain undetermined: Montana and Washington. Get More at NBC News

With 95 percent of precincts reporting, Yes on Prop 32 dropped to 44 percent of the vote while the 'No' vote had 56 percent of the vote.

Under the ballot measure, unions would have been barred from using payroll deductions for political purposes if Proposition 32 passes. Early figures showed the yes vote with a slight lead, but that support dropped as more precincts reported.

Prop. 32 has been billed as a "paycheck protection" and "stop special interest money" initiative.

Critics see it as a showdown that pits business against labor. Backers insist corporations will be reined in, too.

For the first time, NBC 7 San Diego will provide live Election Night video on your mobile device. Be sure to download our free apps before Election Day, follow us on Twitter or #NBC7Vote and “LIKE” us on Facebook to be alerted to live video when it happens.

Results for the measure that will limit the tax choices available to out-of-state businesses are beginning to show 63 percent in favor and 37 percent opposed with just five percentage of precincts reporting.

Busineses that operate in California currently have two choices in how they pay taxes: One method bases a multi-state business’ tax off the amount of sales, property, or employees the firm has in California.

The other method bases the tax off the number of sales conducted in California. If Prop. 39 passes, businesses would be required to use this method. Some of the revenue generated from the taxes will fund clean energy jobs in the state.

However, out-of-state manufacturers say California's tax climate is too business-unfriendly already, and the measure will keep them from investing more here.

]]>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 09:47:23 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/obama-wed-add-P1.jpgIt's go time and with the 2012 presidential campaigns comes to a close, president Barack Obama and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney rally for last minute support for their bid at the White House.

Photo Credit: AP]]>Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:42:53 -0800http://media.nbcsandiego.com/images/213*120/US+Capitol+Building+722+x+406.jpgDemocrats kept the Senate Tuesday, winning a series of neck-and-neck races that Republicans had deemed crucial to their hopes of winning full control of Congress. NBC News projected that Democrats would hold 53 seats in the next Senate, in addition to the consistent support of Independent Bernie Sanders of Vermont and the possible support of newly-elected Independent Angus King of Maine, who has refused to say with whom he will caucus. Tuesday also saw the election of Rep. Tammy Baldwin in Wisconsin, according to NBC projections, making her the nation's first openly gay senator. Her defeated opponent, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, 70, said in his concession speech that he would retire from politics. The Democrats clung to control after five Senate victories in states that had been statistical ties in pre-election polls: Harvard University law professor Elizabeth Warren ousted Republican Sen. Scott Brown after a nasty race in Massachusetts, Virginia's former Democratic Gov. Tim Kaine beat its former Republican Gov. George Allen, Montana Sen. Jon Tester held off his challenger, Indiana's Democratic Rep. Joe Donnelly defeated Republican state Treasurer Richard Mourdock and Democratic Sen. Claire McCaskill held on to her seat in Missouri, beating Republican Rep. Todd Akin. (The latter two Republicans lost largely thanks to their controversial comments about rape and abortion.) In Connecticut, Democratic Rep. Chris Murphy was the projected winner over Republican former wrestling exec Linda McMahon, who had spent more than $40 million of her own money on the race after spending $50 million for a failed run two years ago. Get More at NBC News]]>